You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as we bottle it unfiltered. At 75 IBU's, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that's not easy to find. We think they’ll be quite pleased.

Reviews by originalsin:

No idea how I haven't gotten around to picking up some smuttynose since I've been home. What a treat.

The IPA has a nice deep orange color that borders on gold. The head is white, creamy, and ample--it laces well throughout. The nose on this beer is a real treat--a nice dose of floral hops and pine resin. It smells heavily of grapefruit and reminds me so much of a lot of my favorite amazing smelling dipas, just toned down a bit. I love the way this beer smells and it makes me really happy.All in all, this is a clean, drinkable, and very smooth ipa. It's very assertive with it's hop flavors- grapefruit practically kicks you in the face and then the moment you swallow. The mouthfeel is good- it's medium bodied and quite well carbonated, all of which lends to pretty decent drinkability. Maybe, just maybe, I've had much more drinkable IPAs but this is still great.

I love the east coast. I absolutely love the east coast. (932 characters)

More User Reviews:

Smuttynose's flagship IPA shows the classic character of the style, but doesn't relegate its balance to assertive malt presence, but rather adds complexities from soft esters and alcohol complexes instead.

Their "Finest Kind" pours lightly golden and with the signature dry-hopped haze and sediment for more hoppy goodness. It builds a stark- white head that nearly billows to the rim of the glass- showing off its elevated carbonation. As the froth settles into blanketed coat, it laces the glass with decorative random patterns. Its simply a very appetizing IPA, even to the eye.

Hop-heavy on the nose with bold citrus fruits of grapefruit, orange zest, lemons, pineapples, and tropical medley; the beer's perfumy and floral upstart is supported by light caramel malts that provide a juicy, vine-ripened sweetness to the citrus and tropical notes but never try to rival the hop aromas.

And the beer's hop-centric taste is consistent from its aromatics: citrus, tropical fruits, and fresh-cut grass on the early and middle palate leaves behind an ultra resiny pine bitterness to finish. Fruity esters give a sweet alcohol note of rose and spice. Interestingly, these flavors amplifies the sweetness as it seems to smooth out its bitter bite. Again, caramel malts provide firm underpinnings for the hop display but they never get in the way. The beer is simply an exhibition of American hops.

Crisp, clean, and playfully malty up front, the caramelly grains give way soon after the initial taste, allowing the hop character of bitterness, dryness, and bite to carry the beer deep into the finish and aftertaste. It's a true thirst-quencher.

Finest Kind is a quintessential IPA with a complex hop mix, crisp and understated hops, and noticeable esters and alcohols. Consistent and through from nose to finish. (1,815 characters)

A bright, but dusky, titian colored beer with a clingy, creamy foam head. Pungent grapefruit, citric must, sappy pine and floral aromatics in the nose. Flavor is quite sharp upfront with a striking grapefruit juice/rind character, pine, archaic herbs and hints of sea salt that binds to the palate like a tenacious resin. Malt character is a bit juicy, at first, with a light honey sweetness, mild peary/peachy flavor and a malt biscuitiness that gently underlines the aggressive hop profile. Metallic/mineral water edge. Bone dry, with a linger chalkiness, floral sweetness and pear skin flavors.

Imagine getting hit upside the head with a bag of grapefruits, then, when you finally become conscious again, you awake to find you've got a grapefruit as a gag and you're being held hostage buy Smuttynose IPA.

Exceptionally well balanced and subtly complex in the best of ways ( to me meaning eminently drinkable. I literally take sip and admire the bottle or glass for its superiority of beermeanor and am often carried off for a second-or many-to places I've been and other great beers I have consumed. State of mind recall is a quality ascribed to the best of beers. It's not often a Busch brings back great memories, well besides being ripped out of a drunken slumber as a minor on a friend's parents' commode...I digress... ). It is simply and eminently drinkable, time and time again...Like the the dudes on the bottle as welll...wow, this is not how one reviews a beer... (668 characters)

Flavors were unfortunately how a Black Eyed Peas album should be listened to: muted. The bottle read: drink by October 2013. Now, that's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't let Raul know when the hot dog thing was bottled. It's kind of like when Raul's baby Mama says, "It's fine, whatever." Things kind of are, but at the same time, they kind of aren't. Ya feel me, my children?

It was ok like a pedicure, but lets be real: Raul ain't going back for another. (521 characters)

I picked up a bottle of Smuttynose's Finest Kind IPA a few days ago for $1.79 at Holiday Market. I've been wanting to try this beer for awhile and now that Smuttynose is available in Michigan I thought I would start off with their IPA, so lets see how it goes. Best by 6/4/15. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a teku.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a classic look to it and it's a little eye catching. It poured a slightly hazy golden color that took on more of an orange color when held to the light with almost a finger and a half worth of off white head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some spotty lacing behind. This is a good looking IPA, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a mixture of green hops and citrus rind aromas with each aspect showing up evenly. Up next comes a slight bit of doughy yeast that leads into the malts with some pale malts, sweet malt and light bready aromas coming through. This beer had a pretty nice aroma, but I could have gone without the green hop aspects.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a medium amount of sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart the same even mixture of green hops and citrus rind aromas. Up next comes a slight bit of doughy yeast that leads right into the malts which impart the same aspects that they did in the aroma with the sweet malts seeming to sticking out the most. On the finish there's a medium amount of bitterness with a green hop, citrus rind and sweet malt like aftertaste that was just a little watery. This was a pretty nice tasting beer, but I wish more of the citrus rind hops showed up.

M- Fairly smooth, crisp, fairly clean, on the lighter side of being medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. This beer had a good mouthfeel and it's what I would expect from the style.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and I thought it was an above average example of the style, it's a nice IPA, but I don't really see what sets it apart from the rest and while it is enjoyable I don't find it to be all that memorable. This beer had a nice drinkability, it was fairly smooth, crisp, fairly clean, not too filling and the taste did an ok job at holding my attention, I could drink a couple of these, but the taste doesn't really give me the urge to come back for more. What I like the most about this beer was the mouthfeel it was good and just what I expect from the style. What I like the least about this beer was the green hop aspect, I think this bee would be better if it didn't have that. I would buy this beer again, but I don't think it's something I'll keep in the fridge at all time. I would recommend giving this beer a try, but I can't say it's a stand out in the style. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love, it's a pretty solid IPA, don't get me wrong, but when it comes down to it, I don't think it has anything that really sets it apart or makes it memorable. This beer made for a nice first impression for Smuttynose and I think it falls at above average for the style. Nice job guys, this is a solid IPA, keep it up. (3,281 characters)

This is a solid IPA. The flavors are very well integrated; I'm mainly picking up citrusy lemon, pine, and grass with some fruit (maybe pineapple and grapefruit). This is all over a very nice malt back bone. What sets this beer apart from other IPAs is the finish. The finish is so clean and crisp. It's a very nice change up from the usual overly bitter IPAs that linger and leave your mouth really dry. It's actually drinkable; I think I'm gonna have another..This is a classic example of what an IPA should be. (512 characters)

Best by: 10.14.15. Drank 5.24.15. Poured from a 12oz bottle to a mason jar

A: Pours a murky orange pineapple color with a finger of thick white foam. A few floating particulates, next to zero visible carbonation. Looks very much the part of a flavorful east coast IPA.

S: Pine, Malt, Grapefruit, Pineapple. Relatively straightforward, and that is not a slight.

T: Floral hops with a piney tacky bitterness that last from beginning to end. A little bit of caramel malt and citrus tart shining halfway through each sip.

M: Medium body, crisp, refreshing, and with a subtle drying effect.

O: Possibly one of the best perpetually available, at reasonable cost, east coast IPAs out there. For whatever reason, I shied away from Smuttynose for my first few years in NY, and now I am wondering where the hell that came from. Some hop snobs might think they are above this beer, but pay to mind to them, this is a quality everymans IPA. (933 characters)

Pours a murky honey orange with a foamy tan head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, citrus fruit, and citrus zest aromas. Taste is much the same with citrus zest and grapefruit juice flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with solid citrus zest and citrus juice characteristics that are slightly better in the taste to me. (588 characters)

This came in my Easter gift basket from my mother-in-law today and it was a definant treat,pours a nice golden color with some orange tint with light but pretty sticky head.Nice balanced aroma I picked up a big hoppy grassy aroma right off the bat but a real nice lingering biscuity aroma came thru as the beer settled.An IPA with a malt backbone what a concept!A big zesty herbal flavor hit right away but settles nicely with a slightly sweet malt attack in the finish.One of the better IPA's I have had in quite some time. (524 characters)

Appearance  This one is extremely hazy orange in color with a good, full head.

Smell  The big, floral notes lead off this hop parade. They are followed by some good pine resin that reminds me of our PacNW IPAs.

Taste  The hops come out to dominate which, again, reminds me of the PacNW-version of IPA. This one is very complex at the taste. All of the wonderful grapefruit, pine, and citrus notes play perfectly well together.

Mouthfeel  This medium-bodied ale is dry to the bone so, beware, gulps will come in bunches when drinking this guy.

Drinkability  This is a solid example of the wonderful diversity that we can find in East Coast IPAs. This hop bomb is definitely worth a look. (708 characters)

Pours a halfway hazy golden color with some bright yellow and faint copper-orange highlights. Lots of huge chunks of unadulterated sediment float around the class and kind of hang in suspension without much movement at all. The head is thick and fluffy, almost brilliant white, leaving generous amounts of chunky lacing in its path. The nose comes out swinging with a floral and fragrant hop aroma; flowery, wet, and abrasive - you can almost smell the bitterness. Heavy lemon zest and apple skins, and I'm actually getting a touch of wheat - strange, because I'm fairly sure this beer has absolutely no wheat in it. Might be something from the pale malts.

Smuttynose IPA rolls along the palate with a medium body, somewhat slick and wet. The first thing you notice is the extroverted bitterness that hits hard, beginning, middle, and end. It's like the watchdog of the flavor profile - no matter what you taste, that heavy floral bitterness it gonna be there, too. Very perfume-like on the palate, mostly floral and flowery. On the fruity side of things, you get some intensely sharp and bittersweet grapefruit pith, which is more on the bitter side than the sweet side. The flavor warms up and gets more zesty with time - the pine needles and resin start to come out and the hop profile is evolving right in front of you. Despite the resin that comes into play, it never tastes or feels heavy on the hop oil - interesting. Some slight orange zest flavors hit on the tail end, finishing with an earthy, vaguely peppery, floral hop bitterness. High carbonation shows no mercy on your tongue, either.

What a damn good IPA. It's not the MOST bitter thing I've had, but the bitterness is unique and it remains strong for the entire duration of the brew. Nice light citrus to back it up, too. Pale malts? Yeah, maybe. But who needs 'em? This is a nice IPA for the bitter loving freaks out there. (1,893 characters)

This IPA is dry-hopped and unfiltered. The lees (sediment) that form on the bottom of the bottle are a natural part of this fine ale. You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as we bottle it unfiltered. At 65 IBU's, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that's not easy to find. I think you'll be quite pleased. ABV 6.9% (691 characters)

A-Cloudy, golden straw color. Looks interesting.S-Great piney, citrus smell coming through. Very clean smellT-Mild sweet malt, citrus, and some earthiness hit the tongue first and then ends fairly clean but bitter on the end. Almost astringent and very drying on the end.M-Medium body with low carbonationD-Could put a few down, but alittle too drying on the end to keep drinking these (431 characters)

Presentation- Smuttynose IPA "India Pale Ale"."Finestkind" on main label with some old fellows who seem to be pretty damn happy on their lounge chairs drinking some beer. Off- centered top label shows a seal with brewing name under.

A- Pours a massive bubbly one and a half inch head that stayed around for quite awhile. Pale orange color with a heavy hue of floating mass. Excellent unfiltered bright ambience in the light. Leaves decent lacing on the top of the glass. Mild foamy head remains like ice on water. Very inviting.

S- Fresh grassy hop presence is well noted upfront with a light dose of malts and alcohol and also a factor in the scent. Hops are the predominate smell.

T-M- Taste is pretty good with a quick flash of hop bitterness that leaves a lasting effect on the tongue. Bittersweet backbone of malts and alcohol warmth... still hops are the massive flavor maker. Fresh cut grass, grapefruit, and citrus flavors are excellent in this brew. Nice mouthfeel for quite a bitter beer. Astringent on the tongue, lasting bitterness and mild carbonation.

D- I think this been the best drinkable ipa i've had yet. Excellent it is offered on tap behind where I work at Tap's bar and grill.SWEET. Bro approved. (1,224 characters)